And the Irish, in Ireland and N. Ireland, are also some of the most breathtakingly blatant racists you'll ever meet.
For Eire especially this is one of the big downsides of being part of the EU - for both the Irish and immigrants to Ireland...
‘Racism is rampant in Ireland, across all sectors and levels’
Dr Ebun Joseph is clear – people face discrimination in Irish workplaces because of their skin colour
The arrival of global tech firms and other international companies, bringing with them and attracting people of various nationalities, races and cultures, has been a factor in increasing Ireland’s ethnic diversity. But is racism something people of colour, be they Irish or newer arrivals, have to contend with in the workplace?
Dr Ebun Joseph, the founder of the Institute of Antiracism and Black Studies who also established the first black studies module in UCD, supports and advises people facing racism. She is clear: racism is rife in Ireland.
“A lot of ethnic minorities face inequalities in the workplace,” she says. “No single sector is free of this. From medical doctors and nurses to people flipping burgers, IT support, banking – everywhere. It is rampant.
“I think we should come to a place that we can all agree there is racism in Ireland. People think racism is only in America but it’s happening here. The reason we don’t think we have the same problems that we see in America is because people of colour are in all strata in America but in Ireland they’re only in the bottom strata. The places we see conflict in Ireland are at the bottom of the ladder because that’s where the people with visible differences are.”
Is racism in Ireland getting better or worse?
www.irishtimes.com